Archive for the ‘Willys’ tag

Speaking of Amos Northup, as we were last month, Arch Brown and Bud Juneau caught up with one of the designer’s better-known works, the 1937 Willys 37, for a driveReport in SIA #156, November 1996. It seems the example they found had been abused – not unheard-of at all for an economy car – but they took it in stride and along the way pointed out some of the Willys’s more unique features, along with the fact that the Willys didn’t really offer too many advantages over other low-priced cars on the market at the time.

The 1953 Willys Aero Falcon four-door sedan, like this example currently for sale on Hemmings.com, is a rare bird indeed. Produced for just a single year, Willys built a mere 3,116 total examples with four doors (and another 3,054 with two doors), making this a unique domestic compact that you aren’t likely to see at every Saturday morning car show. Renowned for both performance and fuel economy, the Aero Falcon was a tough sell in a time when bigger almost always equated with better. Factor in an original purchase price that was higher than other small domestics of the day, and you begin to understand why the sighting of an Aero Falcon is such a rare event. From the seller’s description:

Barn find, after resting in a secluded barn in Northern Minnesota for the past 30 years this complete and original Willys is ready to show off. Since its rescue, I have completely rebuilt the brakes with all NOS parts. The fuel tank has been remanufactured, new fuel pump and carb. rebuilt. The car is complete and runs and drives quite well. The paint, chrome and interior are original, I simply cleaned and polished the car and it came back to its original luster.

While we won’t republish the entire series of famous automotive designer profiles that Michael Lamm wrote for SIA (for the entire series and more, check out A Century of Automotive Style), but the one that Lamm kicked off the series with, a profile on Amos Northup for SIA #153, May 1996, is worth reading, if for nothing else than the variety of cars that Northup designed in his cut-too-short career, thanks to his association with Murray. To Northup’s credit go designs for (among others) Wills Sainte Claire, Willys, Graham, Reo, and Hupmobile – in fact, some of the most striking and forward-thinking designs those companies ever implemented.

The Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, Michigan, recently opened its doors to the public as part of the annual Chrysler Employee Motorsport Association (CEMA) gathering, and when we first reported on the event, there was reason to believe that the museum may be opening its doors to the public for the very last time, as the museum was only accepting rental bookings through the month of June. According to a museum spokesperson, that policy has now changed, and facility rentals are again being accepted for the remainder of 2013.

For those concerned that the museum would be shuttered and its collection dispersed, this should come as good news. While the venue is still closed to the public, the fact that longer-term bookings are again being accepted (for the remainder of 2013, anyway) means the museum won’t be going anywhere just yet. Those hoping that the museum would rethink its “closed to the public indefinitely” policy aren’t likely to be pleased, however, as it doesn’t appear that mandate will be amended anytime soon.

Though initially profitable, the Walter P. Chrysler Museum lost significant money in 2010 and 2011, forcing new owner Chrysler Group LLC to take steps to mitigate this loss. In November of 2012, Chrysler announced that it would close the museum to the public on January 1, 2013, but would be available for group rentals. Occasionally, as with last weekend’s CEMA gathering, these rental events are open to the public, meaning that the museum is, too.

No such upcoming events have been announced, but for those passionate about Chrysler and it’s associated brands, no news is perhaps the best news of all, at least for the time being.

During World War II, Ford and Willys produced nearly 648,000 Jeeps as light utility vehicles. The bulk of these, some 361,339 units, were Willys MB models, like the 1944 Willys MB Jeep set to cross the block at the upcoming Bonhams Greenwich sale. Constructed in February of 1944, chassis number 280026 may have been crated for shipment to Europe or the Pacific theater, but the claim that it was found in a crate some 30 years ago is bound to spur discussion among collectors.

In the lexicon of American pop culture, the “Jeep in a crate” claim is the stuff of legend, and as late as the 1970s, magazines with “Popular” in the title would run classified ads for “Cheap Army Surplus” crated Jeeps. The Jeeps themselves weren’t being offered in the classified ad, but instead shoppers could pay to get information on buying such intriguing military surplus (which rarely, if ever, included surplus Jeeps).

“Jeeps in crates” were reportedly used in scams run by grifters in the 1950s, though few modern consumers would pay cash to unknown sellers for the contents of a crate that couldn’t be opened on premises due to “union rules.” How frequently this scam was perpetuated is the subject of some debate, but it certainly does enrich the Jeep-in-a-crate myth.

While the bulk of Jeeps built were shipped uncrated, it’s well documented that Jeeps were occasionally crated in Single Unit Packs (SUPs) or Twin Unit Packs (TUPs) for shipment overseas. Such packaging allowed multiple Jeeps to be stacked atop one another while protecting the vehicles from weather and salt water spray. By the 1980s, however, encountering an authentic, crated Jeep would have been a rare occurrence indeed.

Bonhams describes the 1944 Willys MB Jeep to be sold as “discovered in its original crate about 30 years ago,” and if documentation of the find is included (Bonhams representatives did not respond with further information about the Jeep’s discovery), that could certainly add to the value of chassis number 280026. Though the Jeep is unrestored, it was reportedly painted shortly after its discovery and is in a condition that corresponds to its long-stored description, according to a Bonhams’ representative. The pre-auction estimate places the selling price between $20,000 and $30,000.

1945 Ford GPW Jeep.

At the same auction, Bonhams will also offer the Willys’s wartime counterpart, a 1945 Ford GPW Jeep. Reportedly the subject of a frame-off restoration by a noted Jeep restorer, chassis GPW247613 is one of just 277,896 Jeeps produced by Ford for the war effort. Perhaps the lower production volume adds to the Ford GPW Jeep’s value, as Bonhams anticipates a selling price between $35,000 and $45,000 for this example.

The Bonhams Greenwich sale is scheduled for Sunday, June 2. For more information, visit Bonhams.com.

Largely forgotten today outside of Willys devotees, the Whippet was at one time one of the leading inexpensive cars of the 1920s, as Alex Meredith related in SIA #146, March 1995. However, a number of factors – only one of which was the onset of the Great Depression – came together to cut the Whippet’s time short, which was apparently too bad, because Meredith describes the Whippet as a well-behaved, quality-built, and – above all – fast little car with potential.

In June, the Chrysler Employee Motorsport Association (CEMA) will hold its annual car show, themed Muscle: Past and Present, on the grounds of the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Open to owners of all brands, as well as spectators, the event is significant for one additional reason: It may be the very last time the general public will have an opportunity to tour Chrysler’s museum.

In November of 2012, Chrysler Group LLC purchased the assets of the museum, likely ensuring that the 67 vehicles and associated memorabilia it contained would remain intact, and not end up sold off at auction. Despite being profitable as late as 2009, the museum lost money in both 2010 and 2011; in a concession to cost-cutting, the museum closed its doors to the public on January 1, 2013.

The closure wasn’t absolute: Chrysler at the time noted that the building would remain available for event and meeting rentals, as well as Chrysler special events. Unless something changes, however, this policy is set to expire on June 30, and no one currently knows what’s in store for the collection past that date.

When contacted for comment, a museum spokesperson confirmed that rentals and meetings were only being booked through the month of June, and that no further information on future operations was available. While that’s not quite the same thing as announcing the museum’s permanent closure, it certainly doesn’t bode well for ongoing operations beyond the first half of 2013.

The museum’s collection contains a diverse array of vehicles and artifacts from companies that helped shape the modern version of Chrysler. Displays include products from Hudson, Willys-Knight, De Soto, Nash, Hudson, AMC and Plymouth, as well as surviving brands Chrysler and Dodge.

CEMA’s Muscle: Past and Present event is scheduled for Saturday, June 8. For more information, visit CEMAClub.org. (via)

Willys Station Wagons in salvageable condition are getting harder and harder to find, since most served duty hauling outdoorsmen (and their families) through all kinds of weather and across all kinds of terrain. Clean examples can still be found, however, like this 1960 Willys Sportwagon for sale on Hemmings.com, which boasts a rust-free body, low mileage and two-owner history. If that’s not enough for you, consider this: Its original owner was a former governor of New Hampshire, while its second owner (the seller’s father) was the man tasked with the Willys’s upkeep for the guv. From the seller’s description:

This is a rare 2 owner vehicle that may be one of the finest examples of this model Jeep available in the country. It has always been garaged. It has one repaint with a show quality finish of the original color on a low mileage rust-free body; 27,000 original miles. All work has been documented in pictures and was done by a professional custom body shop. Interior has been redone to original specifications. Original ownership documentation is available. The original owner was a former governor of NH. My father, the second owner since 1985, maintained it for the original owner. The original drive train runs great. If you want an excellent vehicle that has a documented history, this is the one.

On March 22, 1948, the Federal Trade Commission ordered Willys-Overland to stop advertising that it created the Jeep. In the injunction, the FTC said that although Willys-Overland “made an outstanding contribution in its powerful engine as well as in other features of the vehicle,” the credit should be shared. While Willys did end up producing the vehicle under contract for the U.S. Army, the design was originally presented by the American Bantam Car Co.; Ford and Spicer Manufacturing (now Dana Corp.) also contributed to the utility vehicle.